Grain-separator.



0; G. THOMPSON.

GRAIN SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.21, 1911. 1,018,997. v V Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

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0. G.- THOMPSON.

1,018,997, Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

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' 8E INVENTOR- wW BY CarZ G'T/wmpwn- STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

GRAIN-SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 21, 1911.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

Serial No. 645,206.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CARL G. THOMPSON, citizenof the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jeffersonand State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Grain- Separators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in grain-separators; anditconsists in the novel details of construction more fully set forth inthe specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a middle vertical longitudinal section ofthe separator; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on the line 2-2of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 33 ofFig. 1.

The object of my invention is to construct a grain separator eminentlyadapted for the cleaning of wheat in which air currents and gravityconjointly serve to rid the wheat grains of foreign matter such as wildoats, garlic and chaff of every description, the specific gravity andrelative weights of the various materials and the specific proportion ofthe air currents entering as elements in determining the effectivenessof the apparatus and the process identified therewith.

The advantages of the invention will be best apparent from a detaileddescription thereof which is as follows: Referring to the drawings, G,represents the casing of the separator, F, the casing of the aircirculating fan or blower from which leads a conduit D discharging theair through the front wall of the casing G into the front compartment ofan air chamber 1, said chamber having disposed diagonally across thesame the perforated sheet metal plate 2 in which are punched openings 0,the tongues 3 left as a result of the punching operation being bentoutwardly and forwardly into vertical planes and thus serve asdeflectors for the air currents which pass through the opening 0 intothe rear compartment of said air chamber. The lower edge of the plate 2terminates at the upper edge of the partition wall 1 as shown. Mountedacross the front wall of the separator casing is-a shaft 5 provided witheccentrics 6, the eccentric blocks or straps 7 of which have secured tothem the outer resilient ends of the links 8 coupled to the screen orshaker 9 into which the grain is discharged through a spout or chute l0,reciprocation being imparted to the screen by the action of theeccentrics, whereby the grain is constantly advanced rearwardly alongthe screen and finally drops from the rear edge of the screen on aninclined shelf 11. The features described are well known in the art andare therefore shown more or less conventionally, and are not claimed.

Rearward of the chamber 1 is a compartment or chamber 12 wherein theseparation .of the clean stock from the heavy foreign matter, and of thelight material from the heavy, takes place, the conditions within saidchamber being observed through the glass windows W in thesides of theseparator casing. The rear compartment of the chamber 1 is provided withtwo discharge openings, one a, at the top controlled by an oscillatingwing or valve, 13, and the other, 72 discharging into a horizontal ductor pipe 14, the spindle of the valve 13, being rotated from a pointoutside of the casing as well understood in the art. The roof of therear compartment 1 is provided with a projecting ledge 15 which extendsbeyond the valve 13 when the latter is vertical or wholly closed, saidledge serving as a deflector for the air currents which pass by thevalve when the latter is depressed to open position (dotted position inFig. 1), this deflection in a measure preventing the upward expansion ofthe air after it leaves the comparatively constricted passage'a andenters the more spacious chamber 12. The pipe 14: discharges into avertical passage 16 whose exit is controlled by a hinged valve 17, thewall 18 of the passage 16 above the valve-spindle inclining upwardly andforwardly and thus forming a deflector for the ascending air current.

At the upper end of the wall 18 is a wedge or block 19 one face of whichforms a continuation of the wall 18, the wedge forming a constriction 0at a suitable point below the passage a. The outlet from theconstriction is in a measure controlled by an upwardly pointingoscillating valve 20 serving as a skimmer or feather by which the cleanstock is effectively separated from the coarse imscribed as follows.

purities, the latter being precipitated into the compartment 21 on oneside of the chamber 16, the clean stock dropping into the compartment 22on the opposite side of said chamber 16, said compartments 21, 22 beinglocated in the bottom hopper-shaped base H of the separator. Thecompartment 22 has a discharge opening E to which the stock is directedby the inclined plate 23 as best shown inFig. 3. The compartment 21 isprovided with a similar discharge E. The rear wall of the compartment 21is provided with a similar skimmer 2 1 which segregates the lightest andpractically worthless impurities from the coarse impurities said lightimpurities being deposited in the last compartment 25 which is likewiseprovided with a discharge opening E. The dust and sand from the air andscreen is precipitated and settles in the bottom central trough 26whence it is advanced toward the discharge opening 27 by a screw orequivalent conveyer 28. Between the dead-air chamber 29 and the top ofthe rear wall casing, below the fan or blower, and above the passage onis a but terfly-valve 30 comprising a pair of blades radiating from acentral rotatable spindle 31 (operated from the outside of the casing byany suitable means), which regulates and controls the current drawn backinto the fan casing, it being understood that the same air circulatesthrough the apparatus, this air being wholly within the casing. The fanmay of course be driven by any suitable means and from any suitablesource (not shown).

The operation of the separator may be de- The arrows in Fig. 1 representthe course taken by the grain, and air currents, the grain dropping fromthe rear edge of the screen or shaker. The air discharged from theconduit D into the forward compartment of the chamber 1 suddenlyexpands, thereby dropping suspended 1 impurities into the trough 26. Theair then is forced through the openings 0 of the plate 2 increasing invelocity in traversing said openings and then expands again in the rearcompartment of said chamber 1, again dropping its suspended impurities.The expansion in the rear compartment places the air in a condition ofquiescence, yet leaving it under pressure and tension, so that as thevalve 18 is swungopen the air rushes as a horizontal sheet through thepassage (4 into the chamber 12 where'it again expands, the lateralrearward travel-of this sheet coupled with its expansion it undergoeswhen it enters the chamber 12 causing the grain precipitated from theledge or deflector 15 to assume a flaring downward spray (see arrows)the ledge 15 preventing expansion of the air in an upward directionuntil the current has well entered the chamber 12. By this time howeverit will have rid itself of the suspended grain and be in a comparativelyclean condition to be sucked into the fan casing. The lateral action ofthe air sheet in its passage through the opening a in a measuredislodges the lighter impurities from the heavy stock (wheat) allowingthe latter to be practically precipitated vertically into and throughthe constricted passage 0 into the clean stock compartment 22. Toprevent this clean stock (which is the heaviest and of the greaterspecific gravity) from falling too rapidly and to insure the certaindislodgment therefrom of all accompanying lighter impurities, advantageis taken of the increased velocity assumed by the upward air current inpassing the constriction c, this current being the portion emanatingfrom the bottom of the rear compartment of the chamber 1 and traversingthe pipe 1 1, and passage 16. Its control and regulation is accomplishedby the valve 17 as already explained. The expansion of the risingcurrent after it leaves the constriction 0 assists the horizontal sheetof air referred to, in dislodging or separating the impurities from thestock, the latter being retarded in its descent (to allow the expandingair to do its work) byvthe increased velocity of the current at theconstriction 0. Thus the constriction not only imparts a high velocityto the rising current to permit the latter to temporarily suspend orretard the drop of the heavy stock, but brings about a subsequentexpansion which assists the horizontal air sheet in its work, the twocurrents thus acting jointly in the separating process. Theprecipitating grains encounter the skimmers 20, 24, which'are properlyadjusted, said skimmers (or feathers) properly directing the heavier andlighter impurities into their respective compartments 21 and 25 asexplained. The air returned to the fan is regulated by the'valve 30, theblades whereof not only control the rapidity of flow of the current intothe fan casing, but in a measure deflect any particles of dust or grainwhich would have a tendency to rise." The usual impurities are wildoats, garlic, chafl' and the like. The coarse impurities usually havestray grains of wheat'or fractions'of grains and are subsequentlypurified by any methods known tothe art; The fine impurities are as arule entirely devoid of stock mategrain; the plain arrows represent thecoarse impurities; and the dotted arrows represent the light impurities.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. A grain separator provided with an air chamber containing air underpressure, said chamber having at one end at the top thereof avalve-controlled opening for discharging a horizontal sheet of air, aledge projecting beyond said opening and serving as a deflector for theair sheet, and for discharging the grain, a pipe leading from a pointabove the bottom of the chamber, and an air compartment into which saidpipe discharges spaced from the chamber aforesaid, an upper extensionleading from said compartment and provided with a constriction at apoint above the pipe, the space below the constriction serving as areceiving compartment for the cleansed grain, the air from the aircompartment aforesaid -rising upwardly through the constriction againstthe falling grain, a common chamber for receiving the combined airdischarges, a blower, a valve for controlling the drafting of the airfrom said last named chamber into the blower casing, and means forreturning the air into the first mentioned chamber.

2. A grain separator provided with a chamber containing air underpressure and in a state of quiescence, said chamber having at the rearupper corner an opening for the discharge of a horizontal sheet of air,an oscillating valve for controlling the discharge of the air throughsaid opening, a ledge projecting beyond the valve when the latter hasbeen swung to closed position, means for precipitating the grain oversaid ledge across the path of the horizontal air sheet, a conduitleading from a point above the bottom of the air chamber, a verticalvalve-controlled passage into which said conduit discharges, aconstriction in said passage being formed at a point above the valve andbelow the ledge aforesaid, a grain compartment communicating with saidconstriction, said conduit spanning said compartment, a skimmer abovethe constriction aforesaid for separating the impurities from the stock,a common chamber into which the combined vertical and horizontal aircurrents discharge, a blower, a valve for controlling the flow of thecleansed air into the casing of the blower, and a conduit for returningthe air to the first mentioned air chamber, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CARL G. THOMPSON. Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, A. W. POWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

